Archive for March, 2011

Improved player – Carlos Quentin (health has eluded him, even in his best season when he played just 130 games, but he is still at the beginning of his prime and a fully healthy season would yield another .900+ OPS season.)

Improved pitcher – Edwin Jackson (it was a small sample at 75 innings, but I’m buying into what I saw from Jackson after his trade to Chicago. I’m putting faith not only in Jackson’s skill, but also in pitching coach Don Cooper who has done more with less.)

Regression player – Paul Konerko (we saw some vintage Konerko at age 34, but I’m not betting on another 39 home runs or .312 batting average. Of course, I’m not expecting him to disappear either, just be around his 28-30 home run average with a .270-.280 batting average.)

Regression pitcher – Jake Peavy (my friend Andrew [@andtinez] pointed out to me how Peavy seems to want to throw his fist at the batter on every single pitch. I went back and watched some of his starts and saw the exact same thing and that kind of 110% max effort 100 times a game just isn’t a remedy for staying put together and I would be surprised if he threw more than 100 innings or posted an ERA anywhere near his career 3.36.)

Why they will win – They match an excellent lineup with a very strong, diverse (a couple lefties, some hard throws, some soft tossers) rotation that leads right into a very good bullpen making them the odds-on favorite for a very difficult division.

Why they might not win – The lineup’s excellence depends on growth from four spots and sustained quality from four of the top five. If a few pieces were to falter, things could go south quickly in a division with little wiggle room.

Conclusion/Bottom Line – There is little variance between the top three in this division and it will likely come down to health and in-season moves (whether internal or via trade). On paper they hold a slight edge, but I have been notified that they will not be playing the games on paper this year.

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DETROIT TIGERS:

Record – 88-74

Improved player – Ryan Raburn (he has got to put it together for a full season this time around after two years of resurgent second halves.)

Improved pitcher – Rick Porcello (Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer give Detroit a dynamic 1-2 that might be the best in the American League, but Porcello will ultimately be instrumental to the team’s fate as the most talented of their remaining three. He’s not going to become a strikeout artist, but if he can add 1-1.5 per game and rely a little less on an average at best infield defense, he can have his best season yet.)

Regression player – Austin Jackson (I guess he’s the obvious answer because of the gaudy BABIP, but I don’t think he falls off of a cliff as some seem to think. He will need to improve his skill set to hit .293 or better again, namely cutting down on the massive strikeout total, but if he stays flat then he is likely in for a .275ish season.)

Regression pitcher – Joaquin Benoit (no matter how strong his peripheral stats were last year, and they were elite, he has to come down from his 1.34 ERA/0.68 WHIP of 2010 as there’s almost no way he can strand 95% of his runners again while allowing a sub-.200 BABIP.)

Why they can win – The middle of the lineup isn’t just Miguel Cabrera as Magglio Ordonez returns from injury and Victor Martinez almost quietly joins the club from Boston as the move happened so early and so quickly that it is kind of overlooked. The rotation is deep on Opening Day with a solid prospect in Andy Oliver on hand in Toledo just in case.

Why they won’t win – If the table setters (Jackson and Will Rhymes) don’t repeat their 2010 success for the middle of that lineup, runs could be scarce. The bullpen has plenty of raw talent leading to Jose Valverde, but if they don’t convert the triple digit arms into quality innings, they could lose some leads late.

Conclusion/Bottom Line – This is a definitely a three team race, but Detroit has the star power to stick around all year. If their complementary pieces of the lineup don’t step up, they will run out of gas by September.

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MINNESOTA TWINS:

Record – 86-76

Improved player – Denard Span (I’m willing to bet that his talent level is more 2009 than 2010, or at the very least I’ll give him another year to prove he wasn’t a product of the Metrodome.)

Improved pitcher – Kevin Slowey (Nick Blackburn is terrible.)

Regression player – Joe Mauer (Despite being a Tigers fan, I love Mauer. He’s one of my favorite non-Tigers. He’s not a hate-able rival like Jordan or Chris Chelios [before he became a long-time Red Wing], at least not for me, so this isn’t Detroit bias. I’m worried about the knee and just the injury profile in general. It is the games played we would see regress, not the skill, he remains elite.)

Regression pitcher – Guess. Rhymes with Snick Crapchurn.

Why they can win – …because they are a well-run organization able to make deft moves to fill holes as the season progresses. Of course their history as a smart franchise is what boggles my mind so much with the Blackburn/Slowey saga and even the fact that Scott Baker had to fight for a spot. If Delmon Young continues to ascend as I believe he will, they’ll have three superstars in the heart of their lineup.

Why they won’t win – …because their two superstars are two of their biggest question marks from a health concern and they seem to hate their best pitcher (Francisco Liriano, not Slowey this time!) to the point that they are rumored to have him on the block. Bizarre moves with their pitching from an otherwise stable franchise.

Conclusion/Bottom Line – I refuse to count them out as I think the talent will win out in their rotation and they have the makings of a really strong lineup especially if Tsuyoshi Nishioka steps right into the fold. For now, they are a tick below the other two because of bigger question marks.

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KANSAS CITY ROYALS:

Record – 69-93

Improved player – Alcides Escobar (predominantly from a fantasy angle as I believe he will run a ton improving his value at a thin position, but I also think we’ll see this 2-time top 20 prospect start to hit closer to the .293 figure he posted in the minors.)

Regression player – No one. (their older guys are stagnant and I don’t see any of their younger guys falling off.)

Regression pitcher – Bruce Chen (no way this crazy luckbox has another 4.17 ERA rabbit in his hat.)

Why they can win – …because the lineup really isn’t awful as currently constructed and if Mike Moustakas, Eric Hosmer and Lorenzo Cain were up to supplement it by mid-May, they’d have something. Of course the pitching would need a total makeover and Mike Montgomery and the entire AA-Northwest Arkansas staff would need to come up and take over for their current staff.

Why they won’t win – …because they aren’t really playing to win in 2011, nor should they. Debut a few of the blue chippers from the jump (Jeffress, Tim Collins and Aaron Crow), pull a few more up as the season rolls along and then a few more in Spring Training of 2012 and see if this is going to come together as many suspect it might.

Conclusion/Bottom Line – This is a historically great minor league system, but not all of them are going to pan out, certainly not to full potential anyway. Some are going to bust completely, some are going to be average everyday regulars (which isn’t necessarily a failure), some of the heralded starters are going to fail there and shift to the pen and succeed.

It’s going to a be a smorgasbord of success and I just hope the fans realize that instead of expecting Hosmer to be Adrian Gonzalez, Mous to be Evan Longoria and the top arms to be the second coming of Philly’s 2011 rotation. My biggest concern is whether Dayton Moore can adequately surround these prospects with the right major league pieces as they do become ready.

I wouldn’t bet on it, so KC fans might want to hold off on those 2014 playoff ticket deposits for now (note that despite my negativity re: Moore, I’m actually pulling for this class to perform at or above expectations, even though it’ll make life harder for my Tigers).

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CLEVELAND INDIANS:

Record – 65-97

Improved player – Lonnie Chisenhall (not yet with the big league club, but it won’t be long and I think he hits the ground running.)

Regression player – No one. (It was Shin-Soo Choo, Carlos Santana and a bunch of flotsam. I don’t see the former two regressing so that doesn’t leave anything.)

Regression pitcher – Fausto Carmona (I just don’t trust that flimsy skill set. He had no business with a 3.77 ERA and he’d have to get pretty darn lucky to do so again with those peripherals.)

Why they can win – Umm… hmm… OK, let’s try this: Grady Sizemore only misses a little bit of time in April and then comes back and plays like his old self, Travis Hafner has one more excellent season hitting 30 bombs and driving in 100, Michael Brantley displays great plate patience atop the lineup with a near-.400 OBP and Matt LaPorta finally does something with his life and smacks 25 home runs. Those four combine with Asdrubal Cabrera,Choo & Santana for a helluva lineup.

Why they won’t win – …because none of the above is going to happen.

Conclusion/Bottom Line – Their farm isn’t as heralded as KC’s, but it is pretty good and this is a team on the rise, too. Their young major league parts (Carrasco, Santana, Brantley and Cabrera) will be the core supplemented first by Chisenhall in ’11, but then Jason Kipnis, Drew Pomeranz, Alex White, Jason Knapp and Nick Weglarz soon whether it’s late ’11 or next spring. Depending on how the current trio atop this division holds up in the near future, this could become a ridiculous 5-team race soon.

Improved player – Dustin Pedroia (a health prediction as he was limited to 75 games last year.)

Improved pitcher – John Lackey (wasn’t as bad as many perceived last year.)

Regression player – Marco Scutaro (already regressed a bit in ’10, could see another step down in ’11 opening the door for Jed Lowrie.)

Regression pitcher – Clay Buchholz (but probably not as much as some believe; think 3.30-3.55 ERA as opposed to something near or above 4.00.)

Why they will win – because they won 89 with an injury-ravaged team and they’ve added two All-Stars (to replace Victor Martinez & Adrian Beltre) in addition to getting the injured players back full-time.

Why they might not win – Lackey and Josh Beckett regress further and Buchholz does fall off as far as many think leaving them with essentially a one man rotation and too many 8-7 games in an ultra-competitive division.

Conclusion/Bottom Line – It may be boring, but they are the best team heading into Opening Day and it’s by a clear margin. Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez aren’t pure additions because of the losses, but those two are better than what they lost. Throw in full seasons of Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis to 89-win team and they could push 100 with the right breaks.

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NEW YORK YANKEES:

Record – 90-72

Improved player – Alex Rodriguez (his “down” seasons are still well above average, but I think he has at least another MVP-caliber season left in his career and it could be 2011.)

Improved pitcher – Joba Chamberlain (this looks like a strong bullpen on paper, but they will need Joba to be Daniel Bard/Luke Gregerson-esque and anchor those middle innings getting to Sori & Mo especially as the rotation works itself out behind C.C. Sabathia.)

Regression player – Russell Martin (nothing in his profile suggests resurgence, in fact it stands to get worse which could open the door for super-prospect Jesus Montero sooner than later.)

Regression pitcher – Freddy Garcia (did yeoman’s work in 157 IP last year at 35, but the skills were flimsy and 2011 sets up to be worse than his 4.64/1.38 numbers last year.)

Why they can win – …because the team we see right now is almost assuredly not the team they will end up with by season’s end whether they add reinforcements from their farm or outside of the organization using their farm depth to get the missing ingredients.

Why they won’t win – …because the back-end of that rotation, and by back-end I mean #2-5, is shaky and there may not be enough reinforcements available to fix it, especially since Manny Banuelos likely won’t be ready to be a major contributor at any point this year having pitched just 15 innings above High-A.

Conclusion/Bottom Line – They have a stacked lineup, a true ace and a strong bullpen, but too many wildcards in the rotation makes it tough to compete with the league’s best team and two others who aren’t terribly far behind them. Don’t rule out a major trade with this team, though, which would change the game entirely.

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TAMPA BAY RAYS:

Record – 87-75

Improved player – Manny Ramirez (I think he beasts out for one more season. Not quite 2008’s explosion, but about 80% of it. He’s not done.)

Improved pitcher – James Shields (well he can’t get any worse and his skills are just far too good for another 5.18 ERA season.)

Regression player – I don’t really have one for them, I think we will see improvements from some (Manny, Longoria, Upton) and just “as-is” performances from the rest with any major disappointments.

Regression pitcher – Jeremy Hellickson (not really a regression since he’s a rookie, so I’ll go with “Disappointment” here. Rookie pitchers more often pitch like David Price did [4.42 ERA/4.59 FIP] than Tommy Hanson [2.89 ERA/3.50 FIP] and Hellickson would be an exception to the rule with an impact season.)

Why they can win – The loss of Carl Crawford is filled in differently (power as opposed to speed & defense), but adequately from a wins standpoint by Ramirez, Johnny Damon and Upton’s improvement. The rotation is strong 1-5 even if Hellickson “only” pitches to a 4.20-4.40 ERA as a rookie.

Why they won’t win – The bullpen is entirely rebuilt (unless you count Andy Sonnanstine and the currently injured J.P. Howell) and I have zero faith in Kyle Farnsworthless as a potential closer regardless of his otherwise strong peripherals the last three years. I’m even less sold on Joel Peralta after a 49-inning sample of quality at 34-years old. Shaky bullpens can ruin seasons and if theirs doesn’t work out, they could finish as low as 4th.

Conclusion/Bottom Line – The talent is there for another run, but they would need a lot to go right for another division title or even a wildcard berth. I think there is slight regression for this club in 2011. However, per usual since their rise in 2008, reinforcements are on the way in droves so they won’t be “down” long even if they do just have an over-.500 third place season.

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TORONTO BLUE JAYS:

Record – 83-79

Improved player – Travis Snider (I’ve had him on the Adam Lind Path to Stardom for a few years and I was hoping he could skip a year and breakout last year, but it wasn’t so making 2011 his eruption season.)

Improved pitcher – Brandon Morrow (this obviously assumes limited time missed on his current injury, but all signs point toward just one missed start. We could see a mid-3.00s ERA and 200 strikeouts in approx. 180 innings.)

Regression player – Jose Bautista (easy, obvious, but also very probable. I don’t think he falls off the map though, with 36-41 home runs and a strong on-base percentage despite a middling batting average.)

Regression pitcher – Kyle Drabek (as with Hellickson, this is a disappointment call more than a regression because Drabek is also a rookie with just 17 major league IP under his belt. I think the expectations need to be tamped down a bit for both.)

Why they can win – …because they have gobs of power throughout their lineup (Adam Lind and Aaron Hill improving back to their mean level should cover Bautista’s comeback) and two very good starters (when Morrow returns) atop their rotation. Their bullpen, once whole, has four guys with closing experience who have had success at various times (Frank Francisco, Octavio Dotel, Jon Rauch and Jason Frasor) along with other useful parts.

Why they won’t win – What if Morrow doesn’t come right back? Then you’re left with Ricky Romero, who I love, but then a series of question marks. Heck, even if all the “why they can win” comes true, the competition might still be too fierce to overcome.

Conclusion/Bottom Line – An improving team with an excellent fantasy baseball lineup and some intriguing rotation parts, but they are still at least a year away from viable contention in their remarkably difficult division.

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BALTIMORE ORIOLES:

Record – 70-92

Improved player – Matt Wieters (the former #1 prospect in all of baseball can’t keep disappointing, right? No more excuses about learning to catch, no more excuses about adjusting to the big leagues, it’s time to put up or shut up for the talented backstop.)

Improved pitcher – Brian Matusz (it is cheating a bit to pick him given how well he did down the stretch, but we need to see a full season if he’s to be trusted as a budding ace and I think we will despite the stiff competition of the AL Beast.)

Regression player – Brian Roberts (only played 59 games last year, but even a full season is likely to carry some regression to average or slightly below for aging, fragile second baseman. I don’t think he falls off the map entirely, but he’s no longer one of the best of his position.)

Regression pitcher – Jeremy Guthrie (I just don’t believe in this guy and I know perhaps I should after three sub-4.00 ERA seasons out of four despite skills that suggest much worse. Call me stubborn, but I prefer risk-averse, he’s just not that good.)

Why they can win – …because the lineup could really surge as the youth ascends and the quality veterans return to their former glory for at least another year. Combine that with their non-Matusz top pitching prospects (Chris Tillman, Jake Arrieta and Zach Britton) all paying dividends this year and they could shock the Junior Circuit. In other words, it’s a longshot.

Why they won’t win – …because they just don’t have the pitching to compete in that division. Even in a crop of multiple blue chip prospects, you can’t expect all of them to hit big so it could be that Tillman and Arrieta don’t develop to a level commensurate with their minor league track record. It looks like Matusz is going to be the star and I think Britton is going to be a quality 2-3 type which leaves the odds strongly against either of Tillman or Arrieta becoming All-Star quality.

Conclusion/Bottom Line – They are making strides, but they are still a good bit away. I like the veteran fill-ins that could make them competitive in stretches throughout this season, but too many question marks in the rotation leave them in cellar for at least another year. I do look forward to Britton coming up because I think he will emerge and give them a strong 1-2 youth punch with Matusz breeding hope for the future.

I’m still pretty wiped out from a huge fantasy baseball weekend so I’m going to post the NL bold predictions now and add the commentary tomorrow. I figured I’d give you something to chew on as we inch closer and closer to Opening Day. Notice that as with the AL predictions, the ERA-based ones give a .25 spread to cover a bit of random variance. After I add the commentary to these predictions, I’ll do my season preview starting tomorrow and continuing through the weekend.

Tommy Hanson throws 225 innings with a 2.50-2.75 ERA and 210 strikeouts – These would all be career highs for Hanson and this would be a Cy Young-caliber season, which is exactly what I’m intending to predict. He burst onto the scene as a rookie in 2009 and regressed a little once the league caught up last year, but he re-adjusted to improve as 2010 progressed and that impressed me a ton. I think he consolidates his skills for a huge season.

Mike Minor throws 160 innings with a 3.75-4.00 ERA and 165 strikeouts – Yes, Brandon Beachy won that 5th spot out of spring, but that hardly leaves Minor destined for AAA all year long. In fact, Jair Jurrjens is already nicked up and could create an opening for Minor pretty quickly. His skills were excellent in his 41-inning debut last year despite a near-6.00 ERA. Keep him on the radar and NL-Only leaguers might want to buy cheaply if your league allows bidding on minor leaguers.

Florida Marlins:

Mike Stanton hits 51 home runs – There’s otherworldly power in that bat and this projection suggests it all comes together this year which would require a cut down in his MASSIVE strikeout rate. He struck out 123 times in 100 games and he will need to tame that to reach this goal in just his second season. If not, pitchers will just throw him 56-foot curveballs that he’ll dive out in front of all day long. This is a bet approach improvement, the skill is already there.

Javier Vazquez throws 200 innings with a 3.30-3.55 and 175 strikeouts – Last year was far & away his worst season since… yep, his last stint in New York. I’m not sure what the Yankees were really expecting. There is concerns over his velocity drop from ’09 to ’10, but one year isn’t a trend. Yes, he’s getting older (34 in ’11), but I’m willing to give a guy of his caliber the benefit of the doubt on one bad year in a place he’s already sucked before, especially when he’s moving back to the league he dominated in just two years ago.

New York Mets:

Jose Reyes hits .326 with 71 stolen bases, 19 home runs and 75 RBIs – He’s 27 years old though it’s been a slow grind for him to comeback over the past two years, I am not sure why so many seem to think he will never be great again. His combined 2009-2010 was essentially a season’s worth of games (169 games) and he was just above average with a 103 OPS+ and 41 stolen bases. I’m projecting a return 2006-2008 greatness.

Scott Hairston hits 25 home runs – He hit 10 in 100 games at PETCO Park last year so he’s used to pitcher-friendly parks. Plus, with mixed data in the two years of existence, we’re still not sure exactly sure how Citi Field plays. It had a 1.1 HR park factor in 2009 and 0.7 last year. With a full season of at-bats for the first time ever, I think he sets a career high in homers.

Philadelphia Phillies:

Cole Hamels throws 225 innings with a sub-3.00 ERA and 228 strikeouts – Last year I made a wins-based prediction for Hamels and I was disappointed because his excellent season went unrewarded. This guy is one of the best pitchers in baseball, but even a great season might be overlooked in terms of Cy Young voting because of his rotation mates.

Jose Contreras saves 30 games – Brad Lidge is already hurt and set to start the season on the DL. Manager Charlie Manuel is leaning toward Contreras right now and it could be because Ryan Madson just hasn’t shown the fortitude to pitch in the ninth as well as he does in the eighth. I know some disagree with the notion of a “closer’s mentality”, but there do seem to be cases where great eighth inning guys fail repeatedly in the ninth.

Washington Nationals:

Jordan Zimmermann throws 175 innings with a 3.50-3.75 ERA and 180 strikeouts – After Stephen Strasburg burst onto the scene last year, I was so excited for 2011 with Strasburg & Zimm as Washington’s 1-2. I wasn’t expecting a division title, but major losing streaks were like to become a thing of the past in the nation’s capital. Alas, we all know what happened to Strasburg and he will miss the season. That leaves the uninitiated to get accustomed to Zimm’s greatness and begin looking forward to ’12 with those two atop the rotation and A.J. Cole fast approaching.

Ian Desmond hits 24 home runs and steals 29 bases – He and double play partner Danny Espinosa are popular sleeper picks for 2011, but it’s with good reason. They are both very talented youngsters. Desmond’s got a full season under his belt whereas Espinosa has just 28 games on his ledger so I lean toward Desmond for the improvement.

Chicago Cubs:

Carlos Pena hits 41 home runs with a .265 average – How funny is it that a .265 batting average is bold? Honestly, neither prediction here is terribly bold as Pena would simply re-achieve a mark he has touched before in his career. But too often we see overreactions to one year for better or worse from a player so a regression to the mean the following year is seen as a surprise. Pena is going to enjoy some lazy flyballs that find their way out of Wrigley on the windier days this summer.

Geovany Soto hits 33 home runs – He was in the midst of a career-best season last year that would have topped his 2008 rookie campaign, but injuries limited him to just 105 games. Still it was a nice bounce-back from his down 2009 when the league clearly adjusted to him. Now he’s become more patient at the plate and seems to have a firm grasp of what he’s doing up there. Given his price, he is one of the best catchers available in the game.

Cincinnati Reds:

Chris Heisey hits 22 home runs with a .285 average – The simple fact is that Jonny Gomes should not be an everyday player for the Reds, his OPS is 132 points lower against right-handers. Even though it’s too small of a sample to say Heisey can’t hit lefties, he was awful against them in 100 plate appearances last year so at the very least the Reds should have a platoon with the two leaving Heisey more ABs to reach these totals. Are the Reds smart enough to realize this? Or are they just going to send Heisey down as soon as Fred Lewis gets off of the DL?

Jay Bruce hits 39 home runs and drives in 112 runs – His home runs are creeping up slowly year over year and he’s just 24 year old. His first two 20+ home run seasons came in under 110 games while last year he surged with 15 home runs in the last two months. He’s got star written all over him and 2011 could be the first of several great years.

Houston Astros:

Bud Norris throws 180 innings with a 3.75-4.00 ERA and 160 strikeouts – He’s got nasty enough stuff to put a season like this to shame eventually, but at 26 there is plenty of room for growth both with his control and his work with runners on base as well as continued development of his third pitch (a changeup).

Milwaukee Brewers:

Ryan Braun hits 43 home runs with 130 RBIs – This would require a severe reversal in a growing groundball trend, but obviously I believe that is possible. Despite four excellent seasons under his belt, he’s just entering his physical prime technically speaking having turned 27 in the offseason. When your down season is 25 bombs and a .304 average, you’re quite a star. Braun’s flyball rate will head near back up around 40% and with it comes more home runs.

Chris Narveson throws 185 innings with a 4.20-4.45 ERA with 170 strikeouts – Strong skills in 168 innings were a bit hidden by a near-5.00 ERA leaving him undervalued in fantasy leagues and overlooked at the backend of Milwaukee’s rotation. I worry about the Milwaukee defense especially if Narveson keeps slicing his flyball and inducing more grounders, but I like the strikeout ability and solid control in this emerging profile. We might still see some ups & downs before a really big season, but definite improvement is coming.

Pittsburgh Pirates:

James McDonald throws 160 innings with a 3.00-3.25 ERA and 160 strikeouts – There wasn’t very good odds for the bettor on whether or not a McDonald prediction was coming since it was a sure thing. I went a little conservative on the innings just because I’m not sure how the Pirates will play it with McDonald. New manager and the first worthwhile arm under this front office make it kind of a new thing. This IP count would be 30 more than last year. I’ve loved his talent for years and 2011 is the first full year it will be on display.

Jose Tabata hits 17 home runs and steals 41 bases – Feel like he’s been around for a while despite being just 22 years old? It’s because he became a pro in 2005 at age 16. He still has plenty of physical maturing to do, but I think it begins in earnest in 2011 with mid-teens power surge.

Charlie Morton throws 175 innings with a 4.00-4.25 ERA and 135 strikeouts – I know, this seems positively ludicrous, but I’m telling you the skills are there for this kind of season and maybe even better. He was horribly unlucky last year. He got hit in all three major “luck stats” with heavily skewed LOB%, HR/FB and BABIP rates that were all absurdly below league averages. That confluence of events masked an otherwise strong skill set of 6.7 K/9, 2.9 BB/9 and a 47% groundball rate. I’m telling you, throw a buck on him in your NL-Only or deeeeep mixed league and it could pay off. Or you can probably monitor him a start or two to see what happens before having to invest.

St. Louis Cardinals:

Colby Rasmus hits .300 with 31 home runs and 94 RBIs – I could be a year early as he is just 24 this year, but I think this is a star in the making and his growth from year one to year two was mighty impressive. I think we see another leap in 2011.

David Freese hits .327 with 16 home runs – A post-hype (not that there was a ton in the first place) under the radar guy whose improvement in his first full season would go a long way toward the Cardinals getting by the loss of Adam Wainwright.

Arizona Diamondbacks:

David Hernandez strikes out 110 batters in 80 innings of relief work – I had a prediction of him getting 150 strikeouts as a starter last year, but he shifted to the bullpen after just eight starts and really excelled prompting his new team to leave him there full-time. He’s also a sneaky pick for some saves if J.J. Putz struggles with injuries all season long.

Stephen Drew hits 24 home runs and steals 21 bases – I’m kind of bummed about this one. I write these down in my little notebook throughout the offseason as they come to me (several hit the cutting room floor upon further research) and I added Drew to list in January. Now in spring Kirk Gibson comes out raving about his speed making this look like a bandwagon pick. I’ll freely admit when I’m hopping on a train already in progress, but this isn’t such a case. I just see three straight seasons of double-digit triples and growing steals numbers in the same span and feel like a true breakthrough has to be coming for him. Imagine if he and his brother met their full potential for their entire careers.

Colorado Rockies:

Seth Smith hits 28 home runs with 93 RBIs – Here’s an easy to case for “BABIP luck” because you have two seasons of equal samples (133 games) with just 11 plate appearances separating the two and his skills are essentially intact year over year yet his average dropped from .293 to .246. In 2009 his BABIP was .324 while it dipped to a paltry .256 last year. Now with a full-time job in his possession, I think the BABIP regresses and with it comes a power surge and plenty of run production.

Esmil Rogers throws 160 innings with a 4.00-4.25 ERA and 150 strikeouts – Another strong profile covered up by an ugly surface ERA of 6.13 in 72 innings. He has huge groundball and strikeout rates that will play well for this off-the-map fifth starter sure to be a big time waiver pickup early in the season. This endgame flier could turn into a real diamond as regression improvement sets in over the course of a larger sample.

Los Angeles Dodgers:

Chad Billingsley throws 215 innings with a 2.65-2.80 ERA – His recently signed extension strikes me as a major bargain. Paying $10 million a year for three years for a guy with his stuff and resume? I was surprised that some were panning the deal. I think it’s very smart and will no doubt pay dividends considering how much pitchers command on the open market. I limited the prediction to ERA because the rest of skills are already at a rather high level so being bold with them would require being unrealistic.

Matt Kemp sets another career high with 34 home runs and steals 41 bases – His “down” year last year was largely overblown and tied almost entirely to batting average. He wasn’t as good as his draft position, but he was hardly a bust either as he still produced a ton and played all year. Busts are guys who massively underperform (Jason Bay last year) or get injured and miss most of the season (Grady Sizemore), not guys who play 162 games and hit a career-high 28 home runs. Look for a monster 2011.

San Diego Padres:

Tim Stauffer throws 175 innings with a 3.00-3.25 ERA – Great skills combined with a great park, great supporting bullpen and full-time starting gig lead to a big season. He was a pretty trendy pick this offseason which is somewhat expected with the PETCO Push, but pricing was still pretty modest compared to what he can realistically accomplish this year.

Brad Hawpe hits 24 home runs – In nearly equal samples home and away, Hawpe has OPS marks of .886 (in 417 games) and .839 (in 414 games), hardly an egregious difference compared to most Coors Field products. In a smallish, but still somewhat viable 175-plate appearance sample in PETCO Park, Hawpe has a .281/.371/.451 line with five home runs. I don’t see any sense in burying him after one bad season at age 32, especially after four straight seasons of 120 or better OPS+ marks.

San Francisco Giants:

Mark DeRosa hits 26 home runs – Everyone’s favorite former utility darling, DeRosa lost his multi-position eligibility after a 26-game season in 2010, but I don’t think he lost his talent with it. A spot will open up somewhere allowing DeRosa to get his at-bats and make up for last year by setting a career high in home runs.

Brandon Belt hits .292 with 14 home runs in 400 ABs (might seem modest, but consider that he’s played exactly one season as a pro) –This might seem really modest now since he’s been given a spot on the roster for Opening Day between the original posting of these predictions and the commentary fill-in. I don’t really know where to go with him across a full season. I really loved what I saw for him in the Arizona Fall League in November, but I know 2011 will have ups and downs. I’m not sure he offers significant power this year so I’d be more apt to project a .324 average this year than a 25-home run season even in 500+ at-bats. I’ll still with what I’ve got here since an Opening Day roster spot doesn’t guarantee an entire season roster spot.

Many of your have asked if I was going to have anything similar to the SP guide for hitters. Unfortunately I just don’t have the time for that and I’m not sure I ever will, but I’ve partnered with a good friend of mine, Ray Flowers, from BaseballGuys.com, SI.com and Sirius/XM radio essentially trading the SP guide for his hitter profiles. They are found below in PDF form and available for your perusal. I think you’ll find them quite useful.

This is one of my favorite weekends of the year, but also one of the most hectic. I have three auctions, all in Houston (I love in Austin for those who don’t know) so there won’t be any new posts until at least Monday, but maybe even Tuesday. I will finish the Bold Predictions piece with the National League. There was just no time in between the Middle Relief piece and prepping for my busiest draft weekend of the year.

I hope everyone is enjoying what I’m sure is the biggest draft (lumping in auctions with this phrase) weekend of the season with Opening Day arriving Thursday.

I didn’t do a 2010 version of the MR guide. I think it was because my main Thursday column over at Fanball was called “Middle Men” so I was writing about middle relievers every week. A quick refresher on the idea of MRM for the uninitiated—the goal is to acquire three dirt-cheap middle relievers who in turn will net you the stats of an elite starting pitcher. From my experiences, it is best employed in single league auctions. That doesn’t mean that it can’t be done in mixed league drafts and auctions, especially deep ones, just that I find it most effective in SLAs.

This strategy seems to gain traction yearly with more and more fantasy magazines and online draft kits dedicating a portion to middle relievers. Of course they often identify the elite middle relievers. I won’t gloss over the elite of middle relievers in my list, but I hope to highlight the up & comers so that you have a deep list in case other owners choose to utilize the MRM for their teams as well. Not only that, but some of us will invariably end up in leagues where the bulk of middle relievers are ignored or severely undervalued.

I’d hate to assume that every league was going to bid up the top ones and leave you empty-handed when they finally do come available on the cheap. The idea is to find the next elite reliever since the whole goal is to save money in the budget for more hitting*.

(*I’m saving it for hitting, you may choose to invest it in a higher priced ace starter or closer.)

VOLUME

When you’re constructing your three-pack of relievers, you need to keep an eye on their innings totals from the past couple of seasons. Some guys have very appetizing strikeout and walk rates, but are used in a very limited capacity (30-40 IP) and thus should be counted only as your third guy, if at all, unless you are predicting an increased role for 2011.

We are seeing greater balance in workload among the relief corps. In 2009, eight non-closing relievers managed 80+ innings of relief work. In 2010, there were only five such non-closing relievers. Compare that with five years ago when there were 14 and 10 years ago when there were 19. Only two relievers topped 90 innings last year so you’re looking for 70+ innings at the high end.

WHO’S NEXT?

Here are five young small-sample strikeout studs that you should keep on your radar:

1. Jordan Walden, 23 years old, Los Angeles Angels – He displayed blistering heat (avg. 99 MPH w/his fastball) in his 15-inning sample at the big league level last year striking out 23 batters. He’s a failed starter as a 2-pitch pitcher whose third just never developed, but he looks like he could be a dominant setup guy behind Fernando Rodney and might even get a shot at saves at some point this year.

2. Kenley Jansen, 23, Los Angeles Dodgers – He had a star turn in 27 innings similar to Walden’s where he struck out 41 batters. He’s actually a failed catcher that the Dodgers shifted to the pen with great success in limited samples thus far. Unlike Walden, there is legitimate competition for saves on the Dodgers with Jonathan Broxton and Hong-Chih Kuo so he’s almost certainly going to spend the year in the 6th through 8th innings.

3. Zach Braddock, 23, Milwaukee Brewers – Likely to be just a LOOGY as a southpaw who crushed lefties in his 34 innings of work. Even still, he has massive strikeout potential and could develop a larger role if veteran arms LaTroy Hawkins and Takashi Saito succumb to injury.

4. Collin Balester, 25, Washington Nationals – Another failed starter, Balester shifted to the pen last year with great success in 21 innings striking out 28 batters. If the team places importance on Spring Training numbers, Balester should grab a spot in the bullpen as he’s excelled in his nine innings striking out 10 and walking just two. As a former starter, he could be stretched out for 2-inning stints and end up pushing the 100-inning mark which could make him especially valuable if he continues to strikeout a batter per inning or better.

5. Ernesto Frieri, 25, San Diego Padres – With Edward Mujica and Ryan Webb shipped out for Cameron Maybin, spots are open in the SD bullpen and Frieri had a great 32 inning audition during which he struck out 41 batters. This could be the next great unheralded middle reliever for the Padres. He’s no better than fifth on list for saves, so don’t speculate here if you want saves.

NON-STARTING STARTERS

Here are three guys that have come up as starting pitchers, but may be forced to the bullpen due to filled rotations:

1. Kevin Slowey, Minnesota Twins – He’s carried a solid 6.9 K/9 in 473 innings as a starter and I could see that ticking up above eight as a reliever. How he will be utilized out of the bullpen is a bit of a mystery at this point, but I can’t imagine he would be much more than a 6th-7th inning guy and then a long relief guy for the 2nd through 5th innings every fifth day when Nick Blackburn pitches.

2. Hisanori Takahashi, Los Angeles Angels – The swingman pitched 122 innings for the Mets last year and was much better out of the bullpen. He struck out 9.4 batters per game in 57 relief innings posting a 2.04 ERA and 1.13 WHIP. Meanwhile he struck out 7.5 with a 5.01 ERA and 1.45 WHIP in 12 starts totaling 65 innings. He could have some sneaky value, especially if they use him more than an inning at a time.

3. Manny Parra, Milwaukee Brewers – Like Takahashi, Parra struggled when starting and excelled out of the ‘pen. His strikeouts were strong regardless of role (9.4 as SP, 9.8 as RP), but in 16 starts he posted a 6.19 ERA and 1.74 WHIP in 84 innings. Meanwhile his ERA was 2.39 with a 1.35 WHIP in 38 relief innings. The WHIP was still high, but I’m really not concerned with a reliever’s WHIP in terms of impact on a team’s bottom line by the end of the season. As I mentioned in the Closer Tier’s piece, Carlos Marmol’s crazy awful WHIP from 2009 (1.46) would impact a standard 12-team staff by 0.01-0.02 depending on the final innings count. There’s an impact, but not nearly to the degree many analysts suggest.

THE ELITE

This is the cream of the middle reliever crop as I see it. These are the guys that will likely cost you the most to acquire as just about everyone recognizes their value. In the cases where your league fails to pump their costs, jump at the chance to get them at a discount. Also, I’m not saying you can’t pay more than a dollar on them, but some of them might creep as high as $8-10 which is a price I’m not willing to pay. In fact, anything above $5 would likely push me out. Here are the favorites:

1. Luke Gregerson, San Diego Padres – Back-to-back 75+ inning seasons averaging 10.7 K/9 combined with the ever-looming threat of a Heath Bell trade make him the most sought after middle man these days. He doesn’t give an elite ERA (3.24 and 3.22), but it doesn’t hurt, either. You are drafting him for the major strikeouts and potential emergence into the closer’s role.

2. Aroldis Chapman, Cincinnati Reds – He’s one of the hottest prospects in the game so his value is likely to be through the roof relative to middle relievers. He could be a 100-inning, 100+ strikeout guy if Dusty Baker doesn’t lean veteran heavy and realizes the gem he has with Chapman. Eventually he should be tried as a starter, so he should get some 2-inning stints to keep him at least somewhat stretched out.

3. Daniel Bard, Boston Red Sox – The arrival of Bobby Jenks likely puts Bard third on the list for saves, but that doesn’t curb his value for me. He’s their best reliever for sure and they need him pitching the most important outs to get to the ninth with a lead. He was excellent in 2010 and I could see him getting even better and taking that strikeout rate back up over 11 as he did in 2009.

4. Mike Adams, San Diego Padres – The skill is not in question at all. It’s a matter of staying healthy for Adams. He has yet to put together back-to-back healthy seasons so 2011 would complete his first pair. He’s been the complete package at relief with gaudy strikeout totals and minuscule ERA and WHIP rates.

5. Joaquin Benoit, Detroit Tigers – Missed all of 2009, but came back with a career year that earned him a hefty contract. Like Adams, the skill is not in doubt at all, it’s all about staying healthy. He will be a major asset setting up Jose Valverde and could get some sneaky saves when Valverde needs a break.

6. Hong-Chih Kuo, Los Angeles Dodgers – Another guy similar to Adams whose skill is elite, but staying on the field has been problematic. A complete season in 2011 would be his first pair of back-to-back full seasons, too. He absolutely obliterates lefties (.095 last year), but crushes righties too, avoiding LOOGY status.

7. Sergio Romo, San Francisco Giants – His value is ticking upward as Brian Wilson’s status for Opening Day remains in doubt. Romo isn’t guaranteed to get the saves if Wilson is absent, but he is the one most are speculating on thanks to back-to-back seasons with 10+ K/9 rates matched with a sub-3.0 BB/9.

8. Grant Balfour, Oakland Athletics – Balfour is a good example of how a reliever’s ERA can vary wildly year-to-year even if the skills stay relatively steady. The samples are so small that it a bit of randomness can make a huge difference. He has maintained strong skills with strikeout per inning stuff for his entire career and the control is improving as he ages. In Oakland’s spacious park, he’ll be even better.

9. Rafael Betancourt, Colorado Rockies – The home runs are always going to keep his ERA high for an elite reliever (3.50 or higher), but the ridiculous control (3 seasons below 2.0 BB/9 including 1.2 last year) and equally ridiculous strikeout rates make him a useful asset.

10. Rafael Soriano, New York Yankees – Speaking of home runs, I’m worried about how Soriano’s massive flyball rate (52% last year, 50% career) will play in Yankee Stadium. The skills are strong otherwise, but the ERA will likely be higher than the sub-3.00* totals he has posted since 2006. (*it was right at 3.00 in 2007)

THE NEXT LEVEL

Here is where you can find value. A few of these guys likely won’t be at the forefront of many radars in your league. Some are known, but still just don’t command a price tag commensurate with their value (which is of course great for us). And others have the name, but found themselves in this tier because I value them as next-level despite their elite tier price tag—you may want to pass on those that fit those criteria:

1. Matt Belisle, Colorado Rockies – Came out of a nowhere with a brilliant season last year, but the lack of a legitimate track record is what keeps him out of the elite column. Can he maintain the strikeout per inning stuff and more importantly will Colorado allow him to throw 92 innings again or close to it at least? If so, he’s great and likely quite underrated.

2. Tyler Clippard, Washington Nationals – This is an example of what we’re trying to find the next example of in 2011. Clippard was taxed by the Nats throwing 91 innings in 78 appearances, but he delivered with 11.1 K/9, a 3.07 ERA and 11 wins. In fact, he had 17 decisions. I wouldn’t bet on anything close to that again as reliever wins are even flukier than starting pitcher ones. He will likely be overrated in 2011.

3. Bobby Jenks, Boston Red Sox – Don’t underestimate Jenks this year. He could be closing at some point if Papelbon is moved, but if not we could see his workload increase back into the high 60s for the first time since 2007 as he won’t be used solely according to save availability.

4. Takashi Saito, Milwaukee Brewers – Even at 41, he shows no signs of slowing down. He’s more a 55-inning pitcher these days as opposed to 65-70 he gave when came to the majors in 2006, but he can still offer 65+ strikeouts in that time.

5. David Robertson, New York Yankees – He’s been a favorite of mine since back in 2009 when he was an unknown. Now part of a deep bullpen, he’s still pumping out massive strikeout totals, but the lack of control leaves his ERA & WHIP elevated. The latter doesn’t bother me in the least.

6. Chris Sale, Chicago White Sox – I love this kid, but there’s no way he deserved the closer’s role over Matt Thornton based on a 23 innings at the end of the season. Drafted as a starter, he could be the swingman for Chicago this year which could boost his innings total and add to his value.

7. Sergio Santos, Chicago White Sox – The converted infielder came out of nowhere to have a very good season out of the bullpen last year striking out nearly 10 batters per nine innings. His control was a bit erratic and he seemed to wear down late in the season. He should improve in 2011.

8. Jason Motte, St. Louis Cardinals – I know he’s done it for two and a half years, but I still don’t buy Ryan Franklin as a closer. Motte will get a chance sooner or later. In the meantime, he’s good for a strikeout an inning and improving control and rate stats.

9. Kevin Jepsen, Los Angeles Angels – Another guy I’ve liked for a while, he’s been up and down, but with Scott Downs on the DL to start the season, he could be first in line for saves behind an ever-shaky Fernando Rodney.

10. David Hernandez, Arizona Diamondbacks – After struggling as a starter despite some quality stuff, he transitioned nicely to the bullpen raising his strikeout rate from 5.7 K/9 in eight starts (42 IP) to 10.9 in 37 innings of relief. In fact, he improved across the board. I love JJ Putz this year, but back spasms are putting his Opening Day in doubt and Hernandez should be heir apparent.

11. Joba Chamberlain, New York Yankees – We all know what he can do. The Yankees aren’t afraid to allow him to pitch more than an inning at a time (did so 15 times last year) so he could feasibly push the 80-inning mark, though the depth of the NY bullpen might eliminate the need.

12. Alexi Ogando, Texas Rangers – With Neftali Feliz officially taking back the closer’s role, Ogando is firmly entrenched as his setup man. He looked strong in his 41-inning debut and has looked even stronger in the minors with a 12.6 K/9 and 1.9 BB/9 in 112 innings (all but 31 came in Dominican Summer League, but he dominated AA and AAA for those 31, too).

13. Ryan Madson, Philadelphia Phillies –Another high dollar guy (again, relative to middle relievers) because Brad Lidge is so shaky in front of him and he has a long track record of quality middle relief. His strikeout rate has increased yearly since 2006 nearly touching 11 last year. A chair kicking incident cost him a lot of time last year as it resulted in a broken toe. Otherwise, he’s a high workload reliever when healthy.

14. Joel Peralta, Tampa Bay Rays – He enjoyed a breakout season at age 34 last year and color me a bit skeptical. He is in the mix for some saves as they vow to go closer by committee, but I want to see if the strikeouts are for real before investing.

15. Edward Mujica, Florida Marlins – He finally paired his elite control (0.8 in ’10, 1.4 career) with a big time strikeout rate (9.3) resulting in a sick 12.0 K/BB rate. His home run rate has been a problem for his entire career and leaving PETCO will be problematic even though Sun Life Stadium is still solid for pitchers.

GOLD MINING

If the last tier is where you find value, then this is where you get rich. Some of your leaguemates won’t even know who a handful of these guys are, but they have the skills and they just might become the next best thing. Even if they don’t become sometimes-closers or vulture five-plus wins, they could just rack up 65+innings of quality work anonymously for your team:

1. Clay Hensley, Florida Marlins – He might be a bit more known as he is supposed to be the next in line behind Leo Nunez, but Nunez was much better than many are giving him credit for so I think he holds the job. Hensley had his best season yet last year after spending all of ’09 in the minors. I wouldn’t pay more than $2 to find out if he can repeat.

2. Santiago Casilla, San Francisco Giants – His career profile is a great example of how volatile a middle reliever’s skills can be as he has bounced from useful to scrub before finally notching his best season last year at age 30. Don’t go crazy for him.

3. Chris Resop, Pittsburgh Pirates – He has remade himself as a strikeout-heavy reliever and should finally get a chance to do it for a full season, especially since he’s out of options.

4. Sean Marshall, Chicago Cubs – In his first season as a full-time reliever, he took a nice step forward in the strikeout rate and pitched in a lot of high leverage situations allowing him to accumulate seven wins. Don’t bet on the wins, but this lefty can get right and left handers out.

5. Bobby Parnell, New York Mets – Looked sharp in 76 relief innings between AAA and the majors and I think he is a primed for 80+ inning season with quality stats. A great dollar value very late.

6. Jesse Crain, Chicago White Sox – If the spike in strikeout rate (8.2 last year, 5.8 career to date prior to ’10) is for real, he’s usually good for at least 65 innings making him plenty useful as a dollar guy in that deep bullpen.

7. Sean Burnett, Washington Nationals – Emerged with an outburst of strikeouts last year raising his rate more than two to 8.9 K/9 in 63 innings. The backend of Washington’s bullpen is uncertain so he could grab some saves, too.

8. Kerry Wood, Chicago Cubs – He’ll pump tons of strikeouts, but also tons of walks and he’s good for at least a DL stint or two so if you league counts injuries he is a first round pick.

9. Tim Collins, Kansas City Royals – The diminutive Collins (5’7) carries a strikeout rate that belies his stature (13.3 K/9 in 223 minor league IP). He should make the team out of camp and I see no reason he won’t continue to pile up the strikeouts.

10. Anthony Slama, Minnesota Twins – Nicked a little bit with an elbow issue this spring, but he should be back at some point this season and he can be a huge strikeout asset out of the Minnesota bullpen. Monitor his return and be ready to jump in.

11. Michael Wuertz, Oakland Athletics – He’s only had the one great season, 2009, so I’m a little skeptical, but he did maintain a strikeout per inning in an injury-riddled season last year. The home ballpark always helps, but don’t bet on 2009 numbers.

12. Bill Bray, Cincinnati Reds – Looked as good as ever after missing all of 2009, but he is a LOOGY so he doesn’t pile up many innings which limits his potential.

13. Dan Runzler, San Francisco Giants – He’s got an explosive strikeout rate in his 41 innings as a big leaguer, but a 5.5 BB/9 suggests caution. He could be a great sleeper if he tames the control and increases the workload.

14. Jeremy Jeffress, Kansas City Royals – Triple digit heat and a devastating breaking pitch scream future closer for this top prospect. He may not break camp with the team, but when he comes up, he will be a target. Don’t overpay, though.

15. Louis Coleman, Kansas City Royals – A big 2010 in the minors coupled with a big spring have earned him some sleeper buzz. Reliever spring stats might be the most worthless of all as they samples are insanely small. His 92 innings from last year are enough to know he can be a big strikeout guy out of KC’s pen.

Jordan Walden strikes out 100 batters – Twice a top 81 prospect (2008: 81, 2007: 70), Walden failed as a starter, but looks like he could become the next great middle reliever for the Angels. It was a tiny sample, but he dominated in his 15-inning stint out of the pen last year striking out 23 batters. The Angels aren’t afraid to give a reliever they like 70+ innings and Walden’s recent history as a starter could lead to some 2-inning relief stints. Even if your league doesn’t use holds, Walden is a nice $1-2 addition to the back end of your AL-Only staff if only for the strikeout help.

Howie Kendrick hits .347 – Seems like predictions of a Kendrick batting title have been floating around for years. Now a 6th-year big leaguer, he finally played his first full season last year (injuries shortened most of the others), but hit an underwhelming .279 in 616 at-bats. He still has the skills to rack up hits and this could be the year he finally delivers on the batting average promise of his prospect days. Some seem to believe second base is thin this year, but it’s really not so don’t reach for Kendrick even if you think he could explode for this big season. I think it is better to use the 2B depth to fill in your middle (2B/SS) position since shortstop is such a wasteland.

Oakland Athletics:

Coco Crisp stays healthy and goes 20-50 – Like the Carlos Quentin prediction, this one is more of a health one than anything else. Crisp has never played more than 145 games in a season, but he will need to this year if he’s to meet this 20 home run/50 stolen base projection. He is seemingly always nicked or bruised with something or other. The skills are there, as evidenced by his excellent 75-game sample last year (8 HR, 32 SB), but he needs to find a way to play 150+ games.

Gio Gonzalez takes another step forward with the control and tops his ’10 ERA – The easy play is to predict an ERA regression for Gonzalez as his control, though improved, is still high at 4.1 BB/9. But what if he is just getting started? What if he regains his K/IP stuff from 2008 and 2009 while improving that 4.1 walk rate and takes the ERA even lower? I feel like I have been touting Gonzalez forever, but he will be just 25 this year and 2010 was just his first full season. He is a star in the making and it could come as soon as 2011.

Seattle Mariners:

Michael Pineda throws 175 innings of 3.50 ERA – I have preached time and time again that seasons like Tommy Hanson’s rookie year in 2009 (128 IP, 2.89 ERA, 1.18 WHIP) are the exception and not the rule with freshmen pitchers, even the best prospects. I still firmly believe that, but Pineda could be another exception. He is going to secure a rotation spot out of camp and the 22-year old will combine major league-ready stuff with a friendly home ballpark and quality supporting defense. He will eventually become a legitimate #2 behind Felix Hernandez, but he’s a good spec play in keeper leagues right away because he could easily hit the ground running with the factors working in his favor. The 175-inning count would only be 35 more than last year across AA and AAA so the Mariners don’t have to limit him too much.

Erik Bedard throws 180 innings – The skill isn’t in question so even projecting a sub-3.00 ERA with 180+ Ks wouldn’t be terribly bold. It’s all about keeping Bedard healthy and getting him on the mound every fifth day. He’s a late round upside play that can pay massive dividends just by staying healthy. Easier said than done, but I think Seattle finally gets some returns from that awful trade with Baltimore that brought Bedard to the Pacific Northwest.

Texas Rangers:

Nelson Cruz hits 44 home runs and steals 31 bases – From a pure 5-tool skills standpoint, Cruz is one of the best players in all of baseball. I don’t think he gets the credit he deserves for that, though, because in his two big seasons he has only played 128 and 108 games, respectively. If he can make it 150+ games, he can have an all-time fantasy baseball season.

Elvis Andrus hits .324 and steals 56 bases – Too often the fantasy community pigeonholes players and closes off the possibility of growth within their profile after one bad season. I think Andrus might be falling into that category a little bit already (he’s 22!!!). He regressed some in his sophomore season, there is no doubt about it. He hit for less average, had a disgustingly bad .301 SLUGGING PERCENTAGE and was only 32-for-47 (68%, 72% is the break-even point for SBs) on the basepaths. So now he’s a no-hit slick fielding shortstop with some speed for the rest of his career? After his rookie season, he was the next big thing, but a slight regression as a 21-year old now has many down on him. There is often too much overreaction to one season whether positive or negative. Stepping off of my soapbox, Andrus is a talented ballplayer who has legitimate growth potential in his profile. And we could see a large dose of it in 2011.

Carlos Quentin hits 44 home runs – He hasn’t quite captured the magic from his 2008 season when he hit 36 home runs in 130 games and missed September of what could have been an MVP campaign. Since that breakout season, he has continued to display very good power, but injuries have remained a huge issue limiting him to 99 and 131 games in the last two seasons. So I’m betting on health as much as anything else combined with playing in a great park for home runs.

Edwin Jackson strikes out 200+ batters with a sub-3.50 ERA – White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper has done more with less so I’m excited to see what he can do over a full season with someone as talented as E-Jax. We saw a glimpse of things to come in his 75-inning sample after the trade from Arizona and I don’t think that was a fluke. I’m not sure why people are so quick to dismiss his post-trade success, but believe that Daniel Hudson’s (sent to Arizona in the deal) is a slam-dunk precursor of things to come (which is leading to an overvaluing of Hudson, even though I really like him). Jackson’s slider is 4th-best in baseball from 2008-2010 and it will be the primary weapon in his 2011 strikeout fest.

Cleveland Indians:

Lonnie Chisenhall has 400+ at-bats hitting .290/.370/.430 – He probably should have been given the job for Opening Day, but Jack Hannahan edged Jayson Nix in a placeholder duel for the third base job. Chisenhall will head to AAA and polish his game up a bit more, but he will be up quickly and I think he takes over the job upon arrival. There won’t be a ton of power right away and perhaps never, but I think he will lace plenty of singles and doubles while drawing a significant number of walks.

Shin-Soo Choo goes .330-30-30 – After a pair of nearly identical .300-20-20 seasons that have put him on the map as the excellent player that he is, it’s time for Choo to have the career year. I see him going off with 34 home runs and 31 stolen bases and another .400+ on-base percentage, too.

Detroit Tigers:

Victor Martinez hits .372 – I wrote last week about why I thought Martinez was the top catcher for 2011. I think the lack of catching should make him not only more durable, but also better. As such, we could see a special season where this “professional hitter” wins a batting title.

Kansas City Royals:

Alcides Escobar steals 57 bases – His speed did not manifest itself in a full season of at-bats in which he grossly underperformed expectations. A year older and on a team ready to unleash his speed, Escobar could provide sneaky value at the back end of that shortstop pool with a big time speed season. He might still only hit .260, but he’s going to run a ton.

Kila Ka’aihue hits 37 home runs – He has shown prodigious power more than once in his nearly 1,000 games at the minor league level and at 27 years old, it is time to give him a legitimate shot at the major league level. I have seen the Kila Monster multiple times as the AAA Royals affiliate plays against the Round Rock Express, who play minutes from my place. Granted it was against AAA competition, but I am a believer and he could have a huge season if they stopped jerking him around and just let him get a full season of at-bats.

Minnesota Twins:

Kevin Slowey pitches 170 innings – This is bold for two reasons: 1) because he inexplicably lost out to Nick Blackburn and Brian Duensing for a rotation spot on the Twins and 2) because he’s never topped 160 innings in his four major league seasons. His 170 might not come with the Twins as he is rumored to be on the trade block, but even if he sticks around in the Twin Cities, he will get his shot. He will finally stay healthy and pay the dividends his skills portend. A small investment in him now could bring huge returns by season’s end as too many fantasy owners get short-sighted when it comes to these situations. A little patience in April can make your October much sweeter.

Delmon Young picks up where ’10 left off hitting .325 with 30 home runs – Even after last year, you will still hear some analysts dismissing him as a “terrible player”. That’s just stupid. No, he doesn’t draw as many walks as we would all like, but to write him off as quickly as so many have makes no sense. Especially when most of the people doing so are the condescending stathead snob-types. I wonder if they ever realize they sound as stupid as they think non-stathead types like Joe Morgan sound when espousing the virtues of RBIs. OK, a bit of a tangent there. Longtime Rays fan and friend of mine Jason Collette is decidedly not a Young fan, but he doesn’t across like a douche about it. It’s the one player we vehemently disagree on. I think Young can build on his 2010 for a huge 2011. Go Delmon, go!

One of the more exciting things to think about as the season approaches is which players are going to have the break through seasons? Who are going to be this year’s Carlos Gonzalez, Joey Votto and Jose Bautista or David Price, Jaime Garcia and Ubaldo Jimenez? For the past few years I have tried to answer that question with “Bold Prediction” columns over at Fanball. I could’ve sworn I posted at least the 2009 iteration here, too, but I can’t seem to find after an extensive search.

I’m hardly the only one undertaking this task as Ron Shandler and crew have their Longshot Caucus over at BaseballHQ.com and Matthew Berry has his You Heard Me! piece over at his page on ESPN. I believe he will be releasing that soon and it’s always a fun read. Both are, in fact. Hopefully I am able to deliver to that end as well.

In case you don’t remember from previous versions over at Fanball, the bold predictions column isn’t a bunch of aimless predictions, but rather it looks at a player’s whole profile, in the pros and minors, and tries to project out some best case scenarios for them. These aren’t surefire bets, they are longshots that need a myriad of factors to go right if they are to happen. You should reasonably expect between 15% and 20% of them to come to fruition. The point is to get you thinking outside of the box(score) and not focus so much on what we’ve seen, rather entertain what we could see.

I am not going to have the Brady Anderson 50 home run season-type prediction in here because nothing in his profile would’ve told me that was possible so I wouldn’t project it. Some of these may be “duhs” to you which simply means you’re already looking at possible outcomes beyond what we’ve seen to date. In the end if there is a prediction you agree with and it causes you to go the extra buck on a guy and outperforms his cost, but doesn’t necessarily meet the exact figure in the prediction, it’s still a win (i.e. I had Gio Gonzalez projected for 175 Ks last year coming off of a season in which he had a near-6.00 ERA. He finished with 171 and a 3.23 ERA. If you bought in, you certainly profited significantly).

Some of the other calls from last year include:

Shaun Marcum will pick up right where 2008 left off

Luis Valbuena will hit 18 HR and steal 18 bases

Juan Pierre will steal 70 bases

Kelly Johnson will hit 21 HR and .300

Manny Ramirez will hit 40 HR

Nate Schierholtz will hit .320 with 15 HR

Ubaldo Jimenez wins 20 games

Billy Wagner will save 40 games (“And might very well be the league’s best closer.”)

Mike Stanton will hit 17 HR

Mike Jacobs will hit 35 HR

Lastings Milledge will hit 20 HR, steal 20 bases

Joey Votto will hit 35 HR, drive in 120 runs

That’s a decent sample of wins and losses. As you can see, some were incredibly far off the mark by October, but you could have envisioned a scenario where they came true and you wouldn’t have have been utterly baffled as to how like you probably were after Ben Zobrist’s 2009 line of .297, 27 HR, 91 RBI, 91 R and 17 SB. Yes, I highlighted some of the big wins there. I definitely did not have a 58% success rate as this sample of 12 might lead you to believe. In fact, I went 18-for-73 yielding a 25% success rate. Let’s see if we can top that for 2011:

AL East

Baltimore Orioles:

J.J. Hardy hits a career-high 33 home runs – A bum wrist (and other various bumps & bruises) have sapped his power the last two years after a pair of mid-20s home run seasons in Milwaukee back in 2007 and 2008. He moves to a very hitter-friendly ballpark and he is reportedly finally 100% healthy and clear of the wrist issues. He is in the midst of his prime and I’m buying the clean bill of health. He is going very late in fantasy drafts at the most scarce position on the diamond. If you out on the “studs” at short in an AL-Only, wait on Hardy.

Zach Britton pitches 120+ quality innings at the big leagues – His absurd sinker and devastating slider are major league ready while his changeup is catching up quickly. He will almost certainly start the season in AAA, but he shouldn’t be there long. The O’s rotation is hardly stable as it currently stands so once the Super 2 Deadline passes, he should be inserted into the big league rotation where I think he will be an instant success. “Quality innings” is a bit vague so to clarify, I’m thinking he can net a 3.50ish ERA (give or take .15 for random variance) with 6.5 K/9 and 2.0+ K/BB. The strikeouts will rise as he gains experience, but he will utilize that sinker to induce a ton of groundballs as he gains his feel for the big leagues.

Nick Markakis finally has the .300-30-100 season – I made this one last year and I’m headed to the well again. I was only off by 18 home runs and 40 RBIs last year! Joking aside, he is just too good of a player to be hitting 12 home runs in a season. A 30-home run season would be seven higher than his previous career high and 10 more than his last three seasons. He is still at the front end of his prime so don’t rule out an explosion that would shock the narrow-minded.

Jake Fox’s regular season home run total won’t match his Spring Training total… – … because he’s not good. He has eight as of this writing and even if he doesn’t hit another one this spring, he still won’t top that figure in the 2011 regular season. Don’t waste your money.

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Boston Red Sox:

Jacoby Ellsbury hits .320 with 16 HR – The speed will be there, too, but with a career high of 70 there is nothing that would be all that bold. If he met this projection, he would be a Carl Crawford-lite.

Jon Lester posts a 2.50-2.75 ERA with 24 wins en route to an AL Cy Young – I had too many wins-based predictions for pitchers last year which was dumb because I’m always beating the “skill doesn’t always translate to wins” drum so I was leaving the projection in the hands of the offenses, defenses and bullpens when I was really trying to comment on the pitcher’s skill. I included the 24-win mark in Lester’s prediction because I think he has the appropriate backing of offense, defense and bullpen to reward his increasingly excellent skill.

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New York Yankees:

Alex Rodriguez hits 52 home runs – It’s hard to really predict anything that can reasonably be considered bold with A-Rod, but he’s 35 years old and has back-to-back 30 home run seasons leading many to believe he is firmly into his decline phase. There is some skill erosion, but the decline is much smoother with transcendent players like A-Rod and I think he has at least one more MVP-type season in him. He is a bona fide bargain at a very thin position as he goes mid-to-late second round in many leagues. The best part about A-Rod, other than the fact that he’s finally healthy again, is that there’s a very high floor so why not invest?

Nick Swisher hits 38 home runs – He’s actually getting better the deeper he goes into his prime and though he hasn’t topped 29 in the last four seasons and 38 would be a career-high, the potential is there especially in that park. He’s another guy with a high floor having played 150+ games each of the last five seasons. The batting average isn’t quite the risk that many make it out to be as his .219 season in 2008 is now the clear outlier of his career.

Tampa Bay Rays:

Evan Longoria hits .324-41-133 – No, I’m not among those freaking out about his 11 homer drop from 2009 to 2010. After all, his OPS dropped a whopping .010 to .879. This guy is a superstar and as such he will have some truly excellent seasons in his career. I am looking at his age 25 in 2011 as the first such season. All three figures would be career highs and while it wouldn’t necessarily come out of nowhere ashe’s a clear first round pick, it would definitely be a profit-laden season. Some outlets have questioned his mid-first round status, but I think it’s justified even if he “just” repeats 2010 because third base is so lame after the star cut.

James Shields posts a 3.25 ERA – His base skills actually showed significant improvement in 2010 yet his surface stats were the worst of his career because of an atrocious 1.5 home run rate. He’s not a flyball-heavy pitcher, in fact he’s had a sub-40% flyball rate each of the last three years, yet when someone got a hold of one it was gone. His skills are just too damn good for a 5.18 ERA or even the 4.14 ERA from 2009. I’m seeing a major course correction.

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Toronto Blue Jays:

Ricky Romero shaves nearly a full walk off of his control rate and takes his ERA below 3.00 – I could see the strikeouts rising up above eight per game, but I’m not betting on it just yet as he seems to understand that inducing groundballs is the more efficient way of pitching. I love that he has the groundball and strikeout in his arsenal.

Travis Snider completes his Adam Lind Path to Stardom – I hope he doesn’t take every step Adam Lind has after Lind’s 2010. Both had a strong call up, then regressed in their true rookie season and bounced back to average in another half season of play. Lind followed it up with an explosive 2009 hitting .305 with 35 HR and 114 RBIs. I’m not sure Snider will hit .305, but he could also top the 35 homers that Lind hit. I think a big season is in the offing and he’s two years younger than Lind was during his ascension. Put Snider down for .270 and 38 bombs. His RBIs will be determined by batting order.

Brandon Morrow improves his walk rate and cuts over a run off of his ERA – With his incredibly electric stuff, Morrow could accelerate his progression with improved command. Regardless of how much he can improve his walk rate, I think there is a legitimate ceiling on Morrow’s 2011 because the Jays will cap his innings. I could see the cap ending up somewhere around 175. In a surprise announcement today, he will start the season on the disabled list with elbow inflammation. Hopefully this curbs his value a few days before one of the biggest draft/auction weekends of the season. As I mentioned re: Kevin Slowey yesterday, don’t draft for April. If anything, take advantage of any inherent discount brought on by his missing a start or maybe two.

Next Up: AL Central

The goal is to put these up throughout the day tomorrow. I didn’t realize how lengthy they were going to get as I originally intended to go AL/NL in a two-parter. That would’ve been too long (that’s what she said) so I’m breaking it up by division. I will also have my Middle Reliever Guide out this week. I was hoping for today, but again this project expanded a bit more than I expected.

Have you ever wondered how much analysts follow the advice they dole out? I get curious sometimes when I’m listening to various podcasts or reading different sites. In case that is something you have wondered about me, I wanted to share some information from a 15-team mixed league draft I just completed.

All told, I drafted five of the pitchers from the list of 18 favorites for 2011:

Chad Billingsley (95th overall, 7th round)

Ricky Romero (176th overall, 12th round)

Edwin Jackson (245th overall, 17th round)

James McDonald (296th overall, 20th round)

Tim Stauffer (326th overall, 22nd round)

I had a few others queued up and watched as they were swiped right before I could take them. Of the many interesting picks throughout the draft, one that is pertinent to this discussion was Brandon Morrow being taken 101st overall (7th round). Remember what I said about him yesterday, “I think he is getting a little trendy raising his value, but that doesn’t dissuade me.”

Going that early does dissuade me. I like him a lot, but I have my limits. Notable names taken shortly after him that I value higher include: Shaun Marcum, Wandy Rodriguez, Colby Lewis, Brett Anderson, Hiroki Kuroda and Romero. And that was just in the subsequent two rounds. In a 15-team draft, you will have to extend out at times to get your target, but that was a bit egregious as far as I’m concerned.

Even though there is a near-100% chance nobody cares, here’s how my whole team turned out. I picked 5th and it’s a hold + saves league otherwise standard 5×5 categories:

C – J.P. Arencibia

C – A.J. Pierzynski

1B – Billy Butler

2B – Omar Infante

3B – Evan Longoria

SS – Derek Jeter

CI – Gaby Sanchez

MI – Danny Espinosa

OF – Shin-Soo Choo

OF – Ichiro Suzuki

OF – Jay Bruce

OF – Nick Markakis

OF – J.D. Drew

UT – Adam Lind

BE – Juan Uribe

BE – Mark DeRosa

BE – Bill Hall

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P1 – Chad Billingsley

P2 – Ricky Romero

P3 – John Lackey

P4 – Edwin Jackson

P5 – James McDonald

P6 – Tim Stauffer

P7 – Aroldis Chapman

P8 – Mike Adams

P9 – J.J. Putz

BE – Rick Porcello

BE – Randy Wells

BE – Jordan Walden

BE – Bobby Jenks

Miguel Cabrera was available at 5, but I went with Longoria because third base dries up in a hurry and I didn’t think Ryan Zimmerman would make it back to me in the 2nd round (I was right, he went 5 picks before me in that round). I was going to build my infield with Dustin Pedroia in the 2nd round, but he went the pick before more so I shifted to outfield with Choo. The same exact thing happened in the 3rd round as I was looking infield again with Jose Reyes and he went three picks before me so I shifted again to the outfield.

I think the depth/scarcity of outfield is consistently misperceived in these leagues with five outfield spots. I do think there is some scarcity within the position in that middle area so I decided to build a beastly outfield since I covered the two scarcest positions very well (Longoria) and pretty well (Jeter).

I trust myself enough with pitching that I can work with this group and on the wire to put together a strong staff. I would rather have enough offense at the outset and have to work on the pitching aspect than vice versa. Consider one team that has Roy Halladay, C.C. Sabathia, Tommy Hanson, Chris Carpenter, Carlos Marmol, Brian Wilson and Jonathan Papelbon giving them the makings of a tremendous staff, but a severely lagging offense after Miguel Cabrera including an outfield “highlighted” by Brett Gardner along with Franklin Gutierrez, Johnny Damon, Matt Joyce and Seth Smith.

That’s just one example, of course. But I got “my guys” on that pitching staff and if they perform as I expect/hope, I may not have to do much work on the wire, anyway.